


Exploring Childhood

by Erika_youknowtheangel



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Backstory, Braen the Scientist - Freeform, Childhood Memories, Other, cass - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:59:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erika_youknowtheangel/pseuds/Erika_youknowtheangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine being almost 10. You get a new sibling. Cool right?<br/>You thought it was going to be so much fun.<br/>You look at your new sibling for the first time.<br/>Wow, you think.<br/>Imagine a few years later. You're still in middle school. Mother and Father have work to do.<br/>You look at your not-so-new sibling. Who else do they have?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

This is a beginning. Where else would you start? The story could start in the middle, but that wouldn’t make sense, would it? There will be, of course, a middle, and then how all things must go, an ending. This will come later on, but for now, let’s just focus on the beginning of this story. 

There was a city. 

Imagine a city with many shops. There were houses of all different shapes and sizes. People were walking to places they needed to be from places they had to leave on sidewalks all around, and there was the smell of food from a nearby restaurant. A dog barks somewhere. A swing set squeaks and children’s laughter can be heard at the corner. It all began in this city. 

In this certain city, there were two certain people. Those two certain people met each other in certain circumstances. They became friends. They became lovers. Then, they became parents. 

In this certain city, in this certain household of those two certain people, there was a certain family. A mother, who always wore almost no makeup, a father, who always wore too much makeup, and a son, who had no idea what makeup was yet.  
The mother and the father raised their son, like all parents do- with complications and flaws, but trying their best. They were good parents. Their son was a good kid. 

Mother was growing older with stress and age. Father was always on these "business trips" and exhausted. 

Then came a time where the father was gone for a long time. One or two years, maybe. When their son was nine years old, he finally returned. Mother cried and held Father tight. The son was picked up and also held Father close. He was weak. He smelled of earth and sweat and still wore his work uniform, with his camo colored backpack tossed on the floor. They were a family once again. 

Just under a year later, their household changed slightly. There was a mother, who was still beautiful with natural skin, a Father, who was still handsome even with his graying hair, a son, who was almost in his double digits, and a new arrival, who had no idea what was going on. 

Father took him to the hospital to see Mother. Mother was laying there with a little thing in a blanket wiggling in her arms. 

“Braen,” Mother loudly whispered with a smile, “come meet your new sister.”

He walked over to her, and she held the squirming blanket down so he could see. 

The baby looked at him with wide eyes. He mirrored her. She had the brightest hazel eyes he had ever seen. She smiled at him. At least, he thought it was a smile. 

“Can I hold her?” he asked Mother. 

“Just be careful,” she said, handing him the baby, teaching him how to hold her properly. “Her name is Cassandra.” 

He looked down at her once more, now in his arms. 

“Cass,” he whispered down at her, and smiled sweetly. 

This was just the beginning. 

* * *

 

Here’s the thing with brothers and sisters: they scream at each other. Sometimes they throw things. They tell Mom the other did a certain thing. They argue. They fight, sometimes physically. Sometimes it’s jokingly. Sometimes it’s for real. Mom or Dad has to break it up. They get in trouble. They make up. They love each other. Then the process starts all over again. That’s what siblings do. 

However, this pair of siblings worked a little differently. 

Father had to move out. He still loved Mother very much and wanted to be with her, but his job wouldn’t let him all the time. Of course, he still visited when he could. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He always brought back gifts from around the world for his son and now daughter. Mother used to work from home, but since her daughter was walking and talking, and even potty trained, she had to get back to working elsewhere for more money. Money was tight these days. She was hardly ever home as well.

Braen and Cass were alone for the most part. But they had each other, so it wasn’t too bad. 

Most siblings are two-five years apart. Braen and Cass were around ten. 

Since Mother and Father were gone so often, Braen had to grow up faster than most children and raise his sister. He hoped he would do a good job. Cass deserved a good guardian, even if the guardian was a bit young. 

Here’s the thing with this brother and sister: a friend would always be nearby.


	2. Video Games and Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings love playing video games together. Braen doesn't it too well when losing to a three year old.

In his spare time, Braen often played video games. After his homework was done and both he and Cass were fed, he liked to relax on the couch, Gameboy in hand and he played. Cass often watched. 

Depending on his position, she would sometimes sit right next to him, leaning on him to get a better view on his screen. Sometimes she’d sit on his lap and watch his screen. Other times, she would be lying next to him on the floor as she played along on the Super Nintendo. 

She loved to play video games with Braen. He loved playing with her. Of course, when she first started out, she got grumpy when she didn’t know how to actually control her character. So, Braen did what he thought was best. He didn’t unplug her controller to make her think that she was playing when she wasn’t, but he switched characters while she wasn’t looking. He would make her feel like she was doing better than him. As “her” character was getting all the coins or power ups, “his” character was running in circles getting stuck in traps and losing lives. He pretended to get angry as she got up and started dancing and singing about him losing. So angry, in fact, that he would turn into a monster.

Cass screamed and try to run, but was just a smidge too late. He picked her up, and roared. She squealed and squirmed. He took carried her to the couch and threw her on the cushions.   
“Haha! I got you now!” he yelled and roared again. She called for help, her voice failing her a little through giggles. Of course, no one ever came. 

“Okay okay!” she said.

Braen stopped a moment.   
They stayed there in a brief silence. 

“Braen?”

“Yeah?”

“What is that?” she asked, pointing. 

Braen followed her little arm to see what she was staring at. 

“I don’t see any-” was all he could manage as Cass pounced on him. 

Picking up a throw pillow from behind her on the couch, she starting using it as a weapon, hitting Braen and he attempted to shield himself.   
“Take that! And that!” she yelled at him.

“Nooooooooo!” he yelled back. 

“Haha! I tricked you” she said in a sing-song voice. 

Braen coughed. “Curse you Caaaasss!” he yelled, fading it out as he neared his “death”. 

Sometimes that wasn’t all of it. 

She cheered in her victory, and turned back to Braen, who had one eye open that he quickly shut. 

“Hey! I saw that!”

In response, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue to prove he was dead. 

“Braen,” she whined and then poked him. Then again. And again. 

Suddenly, he shot up and grabbed her. She screamed once more and he held her on top of him. She squirmed a little, but eventually just give up as his grip grew tighter and tighter with each movement she made. Braen kissed Cass on top of her head, more often than not getting a bunch of her hair in his mouth. He always made a big deal of that while he’d say “gross!” and try to get all the hair out. She had a lot of hair for a 3 year old. Plus, it was thick and super curly. Though her hair was short, she would attempt to cover his face in more hair. This would almost always work. 

They usually took a nap like that- Braen lying on the couch with Cass curled up on his chest and one of his hands on her back. 

Mother came home early to that once. She got the weekend off that week. She smiled, and covered them in a blanket. She wished she could be more involved in their lives. But there was so much to do; especially now that Father was working in a different state. But she could see they were just fine on their own. They would always have each other. 

Braen was a good care taker. She knew he would make the perfect big brother. Cass sure thought so, and that was obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many stories I want to write about them. I'm trying so hard to go in age order.

**Author's Note:**

> It'll be like a series of one-shots about their life. Idk when I'll update it, but I mean, hey, at least there won't be any cliffhangers, right? 
> 
> I'm dedicating this whole series to those of you who listen to me rant about my characters in order to develop them more. You know who you are.  
> Also I am un-dedicating this to a certain someone who always sends me headcanons (YOU SHIT) 
> 
> You all know who you are and thank you so much for putting up with me(: 
> 
> Please give me feedback so I know how good/bad I'm doing. (Maybe I'll take requests of what you want more of within this?)


End file.
